College Sports Blog

Texas vs. West Virginia: Five things Longhorn fans need to know about the Mountaineers

West Virginia running back Dreamius Smith (2) makes a cut during the Mountaineers recent game against TCU. Smith has rushed for 400 yards and four touchdowns thus far in 2012. (Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports)

1. A much different offense: Last season West Virginia’s offense featured a high-octane group, led by future first-day NFL draft picks Tavon Austin and Geno Smith. That unit scored 39.5 points per game, ranking it ninth in the FBS.

It’s a much different tale for the Mountaineers in 2013. Austin, Smith and wide receiver Stedman Bailey left for the NFL, and Dana Holgorsen had to make offensive adjustments. He worked to transform a high-octane, up-tempo unit into a much slower, plodding rushing attack.

Thus far in 2013 its produced mixed results. The Mountaineers are only 93rd in the FBS in points scored per game, and the unit isn’t nearly as potent as last year’s iteration. Instead, they work to control the clock, trusting their defense to make plays. It’s a similar style to Texas’ run-heavy offense, but just without the same level of explosiveness.

2. A dynamic rushing tandem: Last season Bailey and Austin combined for 55 percent of the Mountaineers’ offensive production. With so much talent exiting, West Virginia refocused around a pair of talented backs, senior Charles Sims and junior Dreamius Smith.

Sims and Smith’s combined production isn’t quite 55 percent, but the pair have formed a steady foundation for what could have been a ravished offense.

Sims, who transferred from Houston before the season, is a talented back with the size to power through tackles but is shifty enough feet to make people miss. He’s rushed for 754 yards and five touchdowns this season. Smith spells Sims, and is quite effective with 400 yards and four touchdowns on the year.

The pair benefit from an experienced and bruising Mountaineer offensive line. They’re not quite as potent, but this West Virginia offense can punish teams offensively.

“[Sims] is a top pro prospect and a really good football player,” Texas head coach Mack Brown said. “Their running game is different than last year. This year they’re going to line up and hammer the ball, and they’ve got two or three prospects on their offensive line.”

3. Defensive struggles: The Mountaineer offense adapted to their tremendous loss of talent, but West Virginia’s defense is still rather similar to last season’s iteration. In other words, still quite porous.

The Mountaineers are 101st in the the FBS in total defense, surrendering 452 yards per game while allowing 30 points per contest. The unit was largely rebuilt in the offseason, adjusting to the frantic pace of Big 12 attacks. Early in the season it looked like it worked. West Virginia showed major improvement, even holding Oklahoma State to 21 points in a huge upset.

Then the Mountaineers ran into Baylor. The Bears torched West Virginia for 73 points in one of the team’s worst ever defensive performances. The Mountaineers haven’t been pounded in such a brutish fashion since, but their defense is still far from formidable.

4. It’s Texas’ first trip to Morgantown, and it will be cold: Texas and West Virginia have met only two times in their program’s histories, and when Texas flies up to Morgantown later this week it will be many players first ever trip to West Virginia. It will be Bevo’s too, Texas has never played in Morgantown.

The players don’t know much about the city, other than the fact that they’ll must bundle up.

The forecast for Saturday calls for a high of 57 and a low of 43. Most of the Texas players aren’t looking forward to the chilly weather. Well, except for the offensive lineman, who have a little more protection than the rest of the team.

“If it stays like it looks right now, it looks like it’s going to be a great day for football from an offensive lineman’s perspective,” senior offensive guard Mason Walters said.

5. Beer sold in stadium equals rowdy fans: Darrel K Royal Memorial Stadium doesn’t sell alcohol during games, and neither do the majority of opponents on the Longhorns’ schedule. This prevents fans from getting too rowdy during contests, and keeps many of them in check.

West Virginia does things differently at Mountaineer Field, as the school allows beer to be sold during games. This creates a hostile environment for opposing fans, something the Texas players are excited to experience.

“I heard about Morgantown that it gets loud up there and that the fans are crazy,” senior left tackle Donald Hawkins said. “They have good fans.”

The majority of Texas players embrace the challenge of playing on the road. They relish the chance to silence a group of 50,000 people on one play. The current group of Longhorn seniors are 11-4 on the road, so they know what it’s like to be successful outside of Austin.

Texas’ players aren’t intimidated by a group of intoxicated fans. If anything, they think it may help them later in the game.

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